Haptic Guidance in Comanipulated Laser Surgery for Fetal Disorders

The current techniques in minimally invasive surgery allow treating fetal disorders. Treatment in an earlier stage increases the chance or level of recovery. However, fetal interventions require precise instrument manipulation from the surgeon. For instance, in the treatment of the twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) the surgeon needs to bring a laser in close vicinity to the placenta. It is crucial that the surgeon maintains a specific distance between the tip of the employed instrument and the placenta, while lasering target sites on the placental surface. To facilitate this procedure, we suggest a new approach where the surgeon comanipulates the instruments together with a robotic stabilizer arm. The stabilizer arm provides haptic guidance to the surgeon, augmenting the surgeon's precision and helping him maintain a desired lasering distance. The benefit of this approach is demonstrated experimentally.

Jaar van publicatie:2016